Italy Road Ways Two on the Loose TRAVEL HUMANITIES PHOTOS

Venice and Its Empire

2012-01-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

To visit Croatia, for example, is to find Venice, and Rome. The view of Venice is not flattering: see Senj, the City; and the Uskoks, who defended against the Ottomans on behalf of the Venetians, who then reneged on obligations to pay the Uskoks, see http://croatiaroadways.blogspot.com/#!/2006/06/senj-and-uskoks-unknown-people.html. Venetian culture was not common good as to any population but its own, not other-directed, but an unbridled Renaissance capitalism that looked out for its own. Profits, sought and opportunities enforced with vengeance.

Now read City of Fortune, How Venice Ruled the Sea, by Robert Crowley, review at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/books/review/city-of-fortune-how-venice-ruled-the-seas-by-roger-crowley-book-review.html?scp=1&sq=book%20review%20City%20of%20Fortune&st=cse. He sees the focus of the Venetians as establishing a monopoly at any cost, over their sea trade routes.

Of particular interest is Venice's response when the Papacy did not deliver 33,000 crusaders as contracted, for ferrying to the Holy Land. Only 12,000 showed up, so Venice took them not to the Holy Land, but dumped them at Constantinople where the pillaging began. "Fair weather Christians," says the reviewer, Nigel Cliff, as they commandeered Byzantine sea ports. I have the book on a wait list from the library, just the review read so far, but I hope Mr. Cliff and Mr. Crowley remember the Uskoks. Veer to them at http://www.balkanhistory.com/uskoks_of_senj.htm. No accounts of any peoples are unambiguous, and untainted by the interests of the teller, and this one slides over the betrayal theme that the castle at Senj focuses upon. But that was Venice. The only aim was commercial, not moral.

Pompeii - Brothel

2011-11-30T09:48:00.002-05:00

Pompeii, Brothel. Direction.

This shows the direction to follow.

New finds: according to the magazine, Archeology Odyssey, March/April 2005, article " 'Daphne is Mine' " -- New Inscriptions from Pompeii's Lupanar, by research journalist, Judith Harris, the brothel at Pompeii is the only brothel from antiquity to be definitely identified. There are some 136 graffiti, the work of the workers and the clients: some 53 gents and 29 ladies. "Fudita sum hic," declares one. Look it up. I did what here? The article notes that the prostitutes served both men and women. Equal opportunity pleasures. One, Mula, was a lady who was a "fututrice" -- acting the male role with women. This is not an unusual reference. See article.
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Pompeii, cobble street, Italy

Antonio Varone, then an archeologist with the "Superindendency" of Pompeii is cited for other references from antiquity to female-female activities. He notes a 1st century AD poem by Martial *; and that people could rent rooms like a motel at the Lupanar. What is the name? From a she-wolf in heat, says the article, thus the lupus lupa. Other buildings in the area also fostered brothel activities.

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* Martial. First century AD poet, 40-104 AD, Celtic background from Bilbilis, Spain, moved to Rome and cultivated patronage there, including from emperors and others he flattered. He was a master of the pun, the pithy saying, often ribald. See Archeology Odyssey, "In the Here and Noww: The First Century AD poet Martiadfl wryly -- and tirelessly -- observes life in ancient Rome," September-October 2002 at p.42. The following samples are not related to Pompeii, but to practices. See more on practices pornographic at the Naples Archeological Museum, including art and etc. from Pompeii. Archeology Odyssey has illustrations, September-October 2000 issue at p.18 ff. "Ancient Smut". Many were excavated beginning 250 years ago, but considered too racy for showing or publication.
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Epigrams 1.90: http://www.archive.org/stream/martialepigrams01martiala/martialepigrams01martiala_djvu.txt
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XC

QUOD numquam maribus iunctam te, Bassa, videbam
quodque tibi moechum fabula nulla dabat,

omne sed officium circa te semper obibat
turba tui sexus, non adeunte viro,

esse videbaris, fateor, Lucretia nobis : 5

at tu, pro facinus, Bassa, fututor eras.

84

Translated at the same site (fair use of huge work)
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IN that I never saw you, Bassa, intimate with men,
and that no scandal assigned you a lover, but every
office a throng of your own sex round you performed
without the approach of man you seemed to me, I
confess, a Lucretia ; yet, Bassa oh, monstrous !

"Monstrous" is not the translation elsewhere of "fututor eras" - do a search. For Bassa, do a "find" at the Epigrams site.

Venice. Venice and the Crusades

2011-09-18T16:16:00.002-04:00

Venice Deflects a Crusade
And Makes Money

It pays to go your own way. At the time of the Crusades, Italy was not the one-nation of today. Instead, it was comprised of separate and rival city-states. That meant, among other things, that when a Pope in Rome declared a Crusade, the rest of Italy may or may not go along. That was the case here, where the calling for Crusades, on the supposedly religious principle of access for Christians to the Holy Land, brought in so many, but not Venice. Was that quest in the Holy Land, questionable as it may be as to motivation, in light of other motivations at the time (new power and profits to the newly separate Roman sect), worth sacrificing profits? Venice said no.

From the 9th Century to 1797, the Republic of Venice ran its own show and to great profit. See Republic of Venice, Arts, Other at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=07&region=eust

Venice

This interest of both sides in the power aspects of the Crusades suggests that rivalries among power areas was not entirely spiritual, including as to the Vatican.

There is a clear and concise summary of the Crusades, era est 1090-1290 AD, at http://history-world.org/crusades.htm. There were many crusades that the Pope ordered: against Muslims in the Middle East; and against any peoples who were not Latin-Church Roman Branch Christians, or where indeed "Christian" but opposed Papal supremacy. Once the Roman branch split with the Eastern Orthodox, who did not recognize the Pope as supreme, the game was on. The identity crisis began.

Crusades. The motivations for crusades were not just spiritual. There were nine crusades in the Middle East, see http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/crusades-timeline.htm, without reference to the Northern Crusades that were launched against Europeans of the north, and Slavic people already converted by Orthodox missionaries.

The Doge or ruler of Venice agreed, as a commercial matter, to transport Flemish and French soldiers to "Outremer", the general term for the Holy Land, "over the sea" in about 1199.

But when they got there, the soldiers did not have the money to pay. No pay, no travel. Venice asked that the soldiers substitute an attack on a rival of Venice, at Zara (now Zadar, Croatia) and then part of Hungary's influence. Zadar still is a sophisticated city. It is not difficult to imagine it as a rival to Venice for commerce. See it on Easter Morning with Cathedral renovations going on, at http://croatiaroadways.blogspot.com/2006/12/zadar-on-easter-morning.html

The Siege of Zara is well presented at Wikipedia, so there we go: 1202 AD -- Siege of Zara. This was Christian against Christian. Urbanity and sophistication against urbanity and sophistication.

Zagreb, Croatia. Easter morning, Cathedral. Renovations.

And so they did. In 1202, the Venetians prevailed.

But Innocent was not pleased at the diversion into Croatia, taking perhaps valuable time and momentum from his objective. He excommunicated the erstwhile Crusaders who had yet to fight the Muslims.

So, was Venice behind the Sack of Constantinople?

The Venetians, pleased with their success in steering the Crusaders to serve Venetian interests, persuaded them to attack Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Orthodox Christian world. Roman Christianity split with the rest of the Christians in The Great Schism of 1054, and was bolstering its identity as an independent and the authoritative branch of Christianity). The attack and sacking took three days, and Venice ended up with a nice monopoly on Byzantine trade.

Enter the Latin Empire of Constantinople, lasting untiil 1261 when the Byzantines recaptured their city.

The split between East and West Christianity was, perhaps, irrevocably broken. Did the old enmity extend into Rome's looking the other way in WWII when Orthodox were subject to genocide.

And so they did.

But why didn't the Crusaders then compel the Venetians to complete the bargain and transport them to the Holy Land? Or had they lost interest. Need more information.

Apparently, so far it appears that the participants were satisfied to skip it. Don't challenge the Muslims after all, but instead set up commercial ventures: various Crusader states along the way. See the history-world site.

Venice. The manipulator. Is that so? And does economic manipulation win? Usually.

The Uskoks, an ethnic group in Croatia, also found that Venice valued only its commercial interests when it came to fair dealing, see http://bogomilia.blogspot.com/2006/07/uskoks-at-senj-croatia.html

Bologna . Loderigo d'Andalo. The Order of Glorious Saint Mary. Where, what, why, when, who.

2009-12-09T20:17:00.013-05:00

Bologna and "Infallibility"

Pope Sixtus V Suspended What Pope Alexander IV Approved:

Military Orders for Women.
Followed by Institutional Fear of Autonomy for Women Religious.

The Fallibility of Infallibility as a Doctrine
What "self-interest" occurred to warrant its disbanding so suddenly. Was it the program's success?
Whose self-interest was threatened by the independence of the Orders of militant women religious.

Meet the Renaissance Guerriera

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Bologna is known for more than its University and excellent cold cuts and meat sauce. Some things and people, we find out about later. As any bit of research, this is a work in progress. What we think we know, and later find out not so, we edit and re-edit.

Loderigo (Ludovico?) d'Andalo, of Bologna (a nobleman) is such a one. Spellings vary: Is this Ludovico d'Angalo? It is also spelled Lodoringo Andalo, see http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Order+of+the+Glorious+Saint+Mary/ and that refers back to Wikipedia.

We are working on finding primary sources here. We are looking up several phonetics. Centuries change sounds and representations.

Ludovico established the military order of women known as the Order of the Glorious Saint Mary, or the Knights of Saint Mary, in 1233 AD.

The Pope of the Day approved: Pope Alexander IV in 1261. This was an era, the 13th Century, of female full participation in ecclesiastical and other cultural aspects of living, see http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/spiritus/v001/1.1hollywood.html; and The Contours of Female Piety in Late Medieval Hagiography, at a journal article by Michael Goodich at http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LhQf5gpWJvkSFlkhTms42hZpp00fVhW7y5xRGv7jMNWqyQt9pMSk!-1196327867!1517079229?docId=96511290/

The context of the movement is broad: independent female piety back then, apart from male control, and what happened to it. The 12th Century saw half the Church's saints as women, women starting their own military and religious orders, independent thinking and action. The female knight.

The backdrop of the female knight: they became too popular, too fabulous, too good at what they did. The chivalric feminine. Chivalry, Cavalieres. Women.

These found their way into other areas, not just Italy. See the female armor still (undestroyed as "heretical" in role) in Switzerland and elsewhere.

Thun, Switzerland. Female armor. Not a religious order there, probably.

Earlier, consider the Legends of Charlemagne, in which the Lady Knight Bradamante, great heroine and fighter, on quests and overcoming all sorts of creatures and perfidious people, was a fine role model whose stories found their way into Bulfinch's Mythology, see http://www.bartleby.com/183/8.html/ (the story is there, with this source given: Thomas Bulfinch, Age of Fable Vol IV, Legends of Charlemagne, Bradamante and Rogero - Rogero (Ruggiero) last seen unable to control his hippogriff and disappearing over the mountaintop, oh, unskilled churl). Read her mindset: chivalry ideals, honor, love, the quest. The cavaliere.

Ah, the fear that struck the heart of those who knew they could not prevail against such an one, and an woman to boot! Get rid of them all, now, while there is yet time! No more female knights will we tolerate! Turn them into viragos. Turn them into objects of jest. Disband them. Put them beneath. See FN 1

The Renaissance Guerriera. The tradition was a strong one, and complex, and manipulated as time went on: The Renaissance Guerriera, see Bradamante and Marfisa, An Analysis of the 'Guerriere' of the 'Orlando Furioso', both new to us, at ://www.jstor.org/pss/3725747 - and what a combination. Beauty and "epic strength."

Centuries later, another Pope flip-flopped, and it is said that Pope Sixtus V in 1558 suppressed that military order. See http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/wom-kn.htm/. And it has been hard to find since, Problem: Sixtus did not become Pope until 1585. Is that so? Is any information reliable? By the time of Sixtus, the Church had moved as well to put women's Orders under the control of the men's. Attach them, so to speak. Fear of autonomy, nothing to do with theology.

Was self-interest to blame?

What did that mean? Self interest as opposed to some other group's interest? This summary-dictionary site attributes the disbanding to the members of the Order of the Glorious Saint Mary succombing to self interest, see http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Order+of+the+Glorious+Saint+Mary/. What is self-interest except seeking autonomy apart from those who would subserve it. Who decided. On what grounds. The article passes the buck by saying it got its information from Wikipedia. Come on, now. Do some research, freedictionary.

What were their actions as women knights? A Spanish group, for example, fended off the Moors. They were no-nonsense.

We know there were women as knights, see ://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/wom-kn.htm/. So, who is this Pope Sixtus V, what was he doing and why, and even more important, who was Loderigo d'Angelo and what the women do to warrant this military order. Women in war is not unusual, see Women in War. We all know the warrior side was suppressed: even our Congress shrinks. So what went on back then? Look at the armor showing women in war, at Castle Thun, Switzerland.

Cast of Characters:

1. Sixtus V in 1585. Birth and death - 1520-1590, Pope from 1585-1590. We understand he suppressed the Order of Military Women, the Glorious Order of Saint Mary as soon as he took office, in 1585. What was the problem?

Twice an Inquisitor. Title: Inquisitor General of Venice. He was forced out because of cantankerousness. He was a mover, an enforcer, and a builder, autocratic and driven, an Administrator whose gift was in shaping administration (regardless of theology?) see ://www.nndb.com/people/332/000095047/. My way or the highway as to anything Reformation. Not unusual for the time.

But there is no mention at the nndb site or at ://www.answers.com/topic/pope-sixtus-v/ as to his actions or inactions referencing the military order of women. Other sites are in Italian. How to decipher those? Keep looking. Suppression so complete that history itself was purged? Or just no interest, not worth mentioning?
Unlikely. What Sixtus acted against, he did decisively.

Sixtus was violent, but did bring peace to warring factions, see ://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_sixtusv.htm/. His other reforms were significant, and he is seen as a worthy pope.

Infallibility had not entered the picture at that stage, so there was no doctrine that said anybody was, by definition, right on anything. Jockey away.

2. Pope Alexander IV, Pope from 1254-1261. We understand he approved the Order of Military Women, the Glorious Saint Mary.

Kind, religious, assiduous, but susceptible to flatterers who wanted him to attack the children of Frederick II (this politicking and intrigue is beyond us) as German Lucifers. Nonetheless, he ruled spiritual affairs with dignity and prudence, see ://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01287b.htm/. That site is a little suspect because it keeps adding value judgments like who is odious and who is not, so we need something more objective. You sort this out. See ://www.biographybase.com/biography/Alexander_IV_Pope.html/ We are interested in Glorious Saint Mary's Order.

Here we are: at Women Warriors of the 13th Century, at ://www.lothene.org/others/women13.html/

Perhaps not so good. That is a circular reference back to Women Knights.

But but it does add specific names, events, for women knights of the time: Countess of Pembroke, Jeanne of Navarre, Countess of Ross, Heldris of Cornwall (Heldris de Cournouaille). Additional women noted at ://www.stanislavs.org/OldPages/oldboard/messages/1280.html/ But where is Glorious Mary? Each one to be looked up.

3. Order of the Glorious Saint Mary - Many mentions of this among military orders of women in medieval times

Knights in White Satin. What line is that song from? See them at ://sacredfems.blogspot.com/2006/01/knights-in-white-satin.html/ That site has an agenda, but do read its additional names and information and check it out.

At this encyclopedia site, ://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/militaryorders.html/, see the Order of the Hatchet and the Order of the Glorious St. Mary, under the heading of military orders. Bibliographies and articles are cited. These get overwhelming. It takes a graduate student, or dedicated undergraduate, to read all that and sift.

Women Knights Templar is the topic at this google book at page 294 ff - see Guardians of the Holy Grail at ://books.google.com/books?id=htS0qhsgI00C&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=Order+of+the+Glorious+Saint+Mary&source=bl&ots=B0yaRUFKWO&sig=HmtMXjq9zcWPUrXPvIqMgRP8GCw&hl=en&ei=XEUgS9bvI8j-nAef37zWDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCIQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Order%20of%20the%20Glorious%20Saint%20Mary&f=false/; it also lists John the Baptist - that brings us back to Kremsmunster Abbey in Kremsmunster, Austria, where St. John the Baptist is the patron of the queen who is the relative of the Duchess there. Go to Kremsmunster Abbey

Read at that Guardians of the Holy Grail site about the central symbolic and actual role of women in the Templars, then and now. Amazing. Still looking for the Pope and the Nobleman.

Is all this history of the church merely one set of powers against another, with no relevance to a deity whatsoever. Women as independent and autonomous thinkers, religious persons, fighters. The church? Where is the theology behind the dogma that suppressed them. All we see are jockeyings for land and power underlying those centuries. Great. A golden age of the first 1500 years, women autonomous, ended with Sixtus.

This is more promising: see ://destreza.us/history/women/index.html - Order of the Hatchet again, Military Order of Santiago, many names, events, women are no shrinking violets, even a duel for a man;and Dame Nicolaa de la Haye, sheriff of Lincolnshire 1216-1226. All interesting, but where is Glorious Mary.

4. Lodorico d'Andalo/ We understand he founded the military order of women, but can find no English site giving details. We are looking up various spellings. Did he act in response to the heroism of the women in fighting back the Moors in Spain?

Search this and come up with Italian or Spanish. Hit the translate button and the option is for a download of an entire book typewritten document.

5. Conclusion so far

There were women in holy military and other military orders until Pope Sixtus in 1585. Some had been brought under male orders control before then, but others did not survive and were suppressed for too much autonomy. Is that so? The acts of suppression do not appear to be in Papal Bulls (enough of that), but by other acts, more and smaller in scope, so well that it will take someone looking back at Papal decrees or whatever to find them.

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FN 1
Better yet, in modern times, to be sure few people look back at once was, turn the name "Bradamante" into "wild lover" so noone will know her true nature and calling as brave, and questing, and skilled with weapons and prevailing. Is that so? See ://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Bradamante.html/ Brado means more than "wild" - wild has come to mean crazy, actions all over the place. Instead, brado (and brada, its feminine) it means untamed, unbroken, as in the context of a wild animal, savage - see ://translation.babylon.com/Italian/to-English/. Even that is not accurate - Bradamante was clearly disciplined. Perhaps not in love, however, and we can't have that.

Babynamesworld also offers other possible connections, however, including blessed maiden, sweet maiden, from the Minoan and Greek Britomartis, see Greece Road Ways, Aegina and Britomartis

The point is that there have been centuries and millennia of traditions of strong, hunting, warrior women, including groups, and suddenly in the 16th Century, she gets theologized out for the convenience of the powers of the church. Is that so?

Dolomites. World War I. Memorials, Southern Tyrol. Austria, Italy

2009-12-03T20:56:00.004-05:00

The Southern Tyrol

The Dolomites Front

Think trenches, hard winters, endless cold and suffering, and most of us think of routine eastern and western fronts from World War II. Think back to World War I. That war defined new boundaries and changed the cultural and legal landscape of this entire area. See ://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/notizie/rubriche/daassociare/visualizza_new.html_990634442.html/ People raised in Austria soon found their land to be Italian.

German is still spoken in much of the Dolomites, at restaurants, gas stations, although the land is technically Italian. Three languages are spoken at different places, including in remote spots, something called "Ladin".

Here, in the Southern Tyrol (we understand that East Tyrol refers more to the Austrian area to the north) the border mountains between Austria and Italy, the Dolomites, the hardships were magnified by the crags, the impossible task of moving men and materiel up cliffs, digging in. Tunnels. Trenches again.

World War II Memorial, Dolomites, Italian Side

This one just appeared. Be careful - bikers may be sacking out behind, or doing other things. We do not come upon these big sites and assume we can walk about at will out there, but so far have never had a problem. Just mother's tapes, be careful, dear. And don't look surprised if people suddenly appear from behind, and get on hidden motorcycles somewhere near other rocks. Smile and nod, and move on about your own business.

Salzburg Castle in Austria has a series of exhibits on the World Wars, with scenes and mannequins in uniform, from the Tyrolean Front. We were prepared, then, to see where they actually were. A forgotten front. These areas passed to Italy after WWI

The sheer size of the memorials is astounding. We think of a statue or two, a reproduction of a wall with a relief perhaps, a scene of soldiers slogging. This is enormous.

Then find the smaller, religious shrines for travelers. Our recollection is that this is also the Dolomites, but possibly it is Swiss.

Roadside religious shrine, Dolomites, Italy

The area of South Tyrol is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, see ://www.suedtirol.info/suedtirol_info//1272-en/en/The_Dolomites-_UNESCO_World_Natural_Heritage_.html/ The shapes of the mountains? Originated as coral reefs 250 million years past, says the site. Now fossilized.

Alps. Italian Side, Alps. Gran San Bernardo Pass. Great Saint Bernard Pass.

2009-11-08T21:50:00.006-05:00

The Great Saint Bernard Pass

The Gran San Bernardo Pass
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Italian Side, Alps

Continue to Swiss Side at Switzerland Road Ways, San Bernardo Pass

The Gran San Bernardo is an ancient and treacherous pass through the Alps: Switzerland on one side, Italy on the other. Conquerors, emissaries, migrations, tourists - all have climbed or ridden very carefully, and some with great suffering, through and over and even under it. There is now an alternative for modern rush days - take the tunnel, if you must. Don't. Don't do it. Go once over the real thing. Motorcycles do, in swooping lines around blind turns; why not you.

Grand San Bernardo Pass, the approach, Italian Alps

Cliffs and hairpin turns, called switchbacks, repeat, up and up, around, then sudden street lamps mark the summit, a modern alert to vehicles that summit congestion is coming. For foot travelers, climbers, or those on horseback or donkey, the way to the summit is marked by pyramid piles of rock called cairns. See more panoramic views of the way up at ://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/155249/pointe-valletta.html/

Summit street lamps, San Bernardo di Mentone, Great Saint Bernard Pass, Italian,Alps.

At the summit, Italian side, find Saint Bernard himself, San Bernardo di Mentone, sometimes called San Bernardo di Aosta because he was born near Aosta, Italy, at Mentone, in 1023 or so. See this translation of his life at ://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/33350/. Do a search for that, and hit the translation button.

The Saint. He lived in these mountains for years, for most of each year, set up this comprehensive shelter hostel, equipped to serve travelers for longer periods as needed. Horses, cargo, all accommodated. However, it is disputed whether he did all that or not - see ://www.vtliving.com/saintbernards/index.shtml/; the dates do not gibe for the founding and when he died, and the naming came centuries later. History is never clear, and beliefs and tradition count for more than later facts, is that so? Sure.

Saint Bernard, Statue, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Italy to Switzerland, Alps

There are a number of buildings at the summit: for coffee, for rescue equipment, bad weather lay-overs, a good stretch. Before starting up the Pass, put your fleece or sweaters at the top of your stuff for an easy put-on at the top.

Great Saint Bernard Pass, Alps, rest, rescue and hostel

Weather changes fast. Here is the alpine lake at the summit, looking back at the Italian side with its hostel, the statue of Saint Bernard, and rest stop. Sun breaking through, but that did not last.
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Resthouse (not main monastery), Italian side, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Alps, Italy

Looking at the lake, there is a cross out there. Does it mark an event, or serve as a symbol for the monastery's activities. It does not stand out, but is there.
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Alpine lake and small cross, summit, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Alps, Italy

Fast weather changes. Still above freezing, but cold, windy.
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Storm coming, San Bernardo Pass, Alps

We had periodic rain and hail on the way up, not serious, then back to sun part-time. See an overview of history and weather and famous people passing this way at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_St_Bernard_Pass/

Just around the lake is the passport checkpoint for Switzerland. The border is not open because Switzerland is not part of the European Union.

San Bernardo Monastery view, seen from Italian side, Great Saint Bernard Pass, Alps.

This Pass is part of the ancient Via Francigena way of the pilgrims, coming from as far away as Canterbury, England, and other parts of Northern Europe, all the way to the Vatican. In the 900's, towns along the way were sizable. See ://www.marka.it/rep_Skeda.php?lang=ENG&categoria=Travel&reportage=La%20via%20Francigena&nome=Paolo%20Siccardi&reptitoloENG=The%20via%20Francigena&replista=no/ You can walk it by yourself. See http://www.pilgrimroutes.com/italy.aspx/.

Now: see the second half of the travel over the Gran San Bernardo, the Swiss side, at Switzerland Road Ways, Gran San Bernardo Pass.

Lucca - Volto Santo, Holy Face, Black Christ; Duomo di San Martino

2009-11-06T04:34:00.003-05:00

Exploring Charlemagne Era Connections - Austria and Italy

Duomo di San Martino, or Cathedral of St. Martin:

Lucca, Italy.

Follow-up to Austria Road Ways, Linz, St. Martin's Church, Martinskirche;

and Austria Road Ways, Kremsmunster Abbey,.

We are looking at roots of the old wooden sculpture of the Black Christ in the Cathedral of St. Martin at Lucca, Italy. The Volto Santo. This figure appears on the net in two forms we have found, so far: a plain and a fancy.

1.1 The Plain Volto Santo.

People's photos conflict: here is one, in a plain white robe with border, see ://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/jasonandsarah/1/1208995260/looking-through-the-decorative-iron-to-jesus.jpg/tpod.html/. Here is a fair use thumbnail.

2. The fancy Volto Santo.

Then there is the "Volto Santo" or "Holy Face", the photograph of a different figure, or is it the same but clothed differently, as is customary in many places, as liturgical seasons change.

Both are black, see http://www.stgemma.com/gallery/eng_volto_sancto.html/ Here is a fair use of the Volto Santo from that site, do an images search for volto santo lucca to find it.
Lucca, Italy, is inland and northeast from Pisa, not far from the coast, in Tuscany. Florence is to the northeast.

Lucca was off our path for visiting this time, but old Lucca, in its Charlemagne era prominence (700s?), appeared by chance in two of our Austrian stops during our most recent trip. What is the history of the Lombards, of Lombardy. How did Charlemagne, from Aachen, Germany (no boundaries in those days) figure so prominently. His is a fascinating biography - see ://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm/ For more of Charlemagne, curl up with something like ://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521716451&ss=ind/

We first found Lucca mentioned during a road trip to Austria: at Austria Road Ways, Kremsmunster Abbey. Its founding dates from Charlemagne's time, and there is a Chalice from that period, with connections to the Queen of Lucca; who turns out to be one wise, gracious, pious and effective Queen Theodolinda of the Lombards, see ://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872284,00.html; a/k/a Theodelinda, see ://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590589/Theodelinda. Sixth Century.

Then we found a correspondence by name and image of Christ, between little old St. Martin's Church from Charlemagne's time in Linz, Austria, at Austria Road Ways, Linz, St. Martin's Church, Martinskirche. And the Cathedral of St. Martin in Lucca.

This Linz Martinskirche has a faded fresco inside that seems to resemble the Black Christ from that period, or earlier; that is kept at St. Martin's Cathedral in Lucca, the Duomo di San Martino. Better photo needed of the Linz fresco.

So, we look at the figure of a Black Christ, knowing that there are many Black Madonnas, but this is our first exposure to an early Christian Black Christ.

Why is the history of this figure not better known; it has a long history, even if conflicting. People go there and never even look it up, see ://jimcarlucci.com/lucca_&_pisa.htm/ Guide books do not even translate it. See://goitaly.about.com/od/lucca/tp/lucca-attractions.htm/

Here is a start. Note that this is history-based, not faith-based. We leave what people believe about something to them. We are looking for factual context, origins, place in the middle ages and earlier, and after, and any legends or stories about it. Others can derive significance or not.

Why are there two figures: one plain, one fancy, at the Duomo di San Martino, Lucca

Dressing the figure looks like the answer - as occurs at other shrines as different festivals and seasons turn. Here is the plain Volto Santo again, from another site. See ://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&source=hp&q=volto+santo+lucca&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=/ This one is plain.

What is the history of The Duomo di San Martino

This, as seen now, was built in the 12th-13th Centuries, see ://goitaly.about.com/od/lucca/tp/lucca-attractions.htm/. See also ://www.italyguides.it/us/italy/tuscany/lucca/duomo-of-san-martino/cathedral-of-st-martin.htm/

There was already a church in the town in the 6th Century, a time of San Frediano (an Irish bishop), a Roman basilica style.

Earlier, there was a more "primitive" church of San Reparata, a 4th Century girl saint, perhaps 11, persecuted, survived first attempt to kill her in fires, survived, then was indeed killed (beheaded) but suddenly a dove appeared and flew up to heaven. These are wonderful stories, adding to - not detracting from - a fact-based look. Perhaps with all this detail you will not forget Reparata, as was part of the probable teaching purpose in embellishing and making these stories memorable.

Saint Reparata figures prominently in other areas of belief and politics at the time, see ://en.allexperts.com/e/s/sa/santa_reparata_%28florence%29.htm/. Do a find for Lucca there, to see the regional view. Lombards, politics, all.

Some guidebooks are useless in some areas. Frommer's, for example, thinks it is stylish to make fun of old things, that it thinks only strange people would believe in, and passes the Volto Santo by, almost entirely, except to be derisive.

Finally, there it is. Scroll down here and find its condescending reference, fair use quote:

"This thick-featured, bug-eyed, time-blackened wooden statue of Jesus crucified was rumored to have been started by Nicodemus -- who would've known what he was carving since he was the one who actually took Jesus off the Cross -- but was miraculously completed. Hidden during the persecutions and eventually stuck on a tiny boat by itself and set adrift, it found its way to the Italian port of Luni in 782, where the local bishop was told in a dream to place it in a cart drawn by two wild oxen, and wherever they went, there the Holy Image would stay. The ornery beasts, miraculously submitting meekly to the yoke, wandered over to Lucca and hit the brakes, and the miraculous image has been planted here ever since."

See //www.frommers.com/destinations/lucca/A30489.html

Perhaps it is a "fraud" in that it is not the original.

Frommer's suggests it was carved in the 13th Century. But, if it also was made at that time to replace an 11th Century rendition "that may have been copied from a Syrian statue from the 700's", then its history is consistent with preserving what to the people there is an important relic. This is apparently the only representation of the face made by someone, or derived from a representation by someone, who was there. That is an interesting point. What if he were dark skinned? What would white-faces around the world do.

Maybe he was bug-eyed.

At least this next site notes significance: that this is the only early figure we have that shows dark skin color on Christ; and it has the wits to make this comment: as probably he was. See ://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Lucca-149133/Things_To_Do-Lucca-Duomo_di_San_Martino-BR-1.html/. And trace the origin to the sculptor, Nicodemus himself, say the legends. He took Christ down from the cross, so he would know. Is that so? Can myth coexist with science. Here we go.

CRITIQUE AND A POSITIVE NEXT STEP:

Frommer, with all your profits, why not finance a carbon dating and historical research review of the Holy Visage statue here, and wipe the smirk off. Proposed: Facts, and respect, courtesy in opinion, but not condescension in guide books.

A confirming Frommer fact: The figure indeed is dressed for festival procession on September 13 and 14, and May 3, of each year. But get the tone again: "The Luccans dress their Christ up ...." Luccans used in this way and in this context sounds like Skywalkerans?

Ugly americans at Frommer these days? Tour guide opinions and points and side stories can indeed be made to enhance a tour experience, add to the fact-base or legend surrounding a figure, but the tone matters.

Aosta - To the Alps. Romans and Castles. Aosta Valley.

2009-11-02T18:51:00.003-05:00

Romans captured Aosta from the Gauls in about 25 BCE, and made Aosta into a legion post on the way to the Italian side of the Alps. There is a great deal of gray stone, streets in grids.

Signs are terrible. Aosta is a place on the way elsewhere, to the San Bernardino Pass, and yet try to find the ruins easily, with some idea of how much farther to go. We stop at towns like Aosta mainly for a gas-up and snack, and take a quick look around, but if sights are not well marked, take what we get and move on. The weather is looming and time passing, and the signs, again, are awful. Aosta tourism, you are losing business.
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Aosta, Italy. Roman wall, ruin.

Aosta, Italy. The Wolf, of Romulus and Remus fame.

Then, Charlemagne (fast forward) passed through on the route Pilgrims used from more northern Europe to the Vatican. Read this fine description at ://www.initaly.com/regions/valdsta/aosta.htm/. Peasants, crusaders, royalty, all funneling through.

Aosta, on the way to the Grand San Bernardino Pass. FN 1

First, see the castles and vineyards, and terraced other things growing, on the way to Aosta and out the other side.

Terraced vineyards, Aosta Valley, Italy

Fenis Castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

Some castles along the way are identifiable by their silhouettes. This one, Fenis, like Verres, were feudal military outposts, but also offered luxury to the higher-ups.

The Bard Castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

The Bard Castle as a site dates from the 11th Century, perhaps parts earlier. The Savoys occupied it in the 13th Century, and its site has housed a fortress since the first century - Romans set up there. See ://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/cultura/castelli/forte_di_bard_e.asp/ Austrians also holed up there until Napoleon broke through its defenses, and then the entire castle was dismantled. What we see now is a reproduction from the 19th Century, the castle then was decommissioned, and is now a museum complex.

D'Ael Bridge (segment), and mountaintop Montmayer castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

Above the D'Ael Bridge is a small tower castle, the Montmayer, by the Valgrisenche valley. Think broody. This could be Ussel's Castle - both lone towers, but the Ussel is a rectangle, and I do not recall seeing a rectangle.

Verres Castle, Aosta Valley, Northern Italy

The castle at Verres is 14th Century, and was not only defensive. It also offered the good life - opulence, a palace atmosphere.

Then start the climb and the switchbacks up. You can choose the tunnel, but then you see a tunnel. There are tunnels now that whisk the motorcars as an alternative under and through, rather than switchback, peril and up and down. We avoided the long tunnels. Short ones are unavoidable - some being just a few thousand feet to a few miles, or mere roofing buttressed up, with open sides.
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FN 1 Passes.

There are two particular historic passes over the Alps, among many, with names that have become household:

1) The Grand San Bernardino Pass, here, from Aosta to Martigny, Switzerland; and
2) Hannibal's route. More lateral, from France.

The Grand San Bernardo Pass is a more north-south, from Switzerland into Italy or the other way, of course, with the monks at a hostel at the top, and the St. Bernard dogs to rescue the frozen, broken, traveler in the old days. Napoleon went this way.

The Grand San Bernardino is usually routed as from Aosta, and the Aosta Valley, as the gateway, over the to the Swiss town of Martigny.

2) Hannibal's route; a lateral way from the French side of the Alps into Italy.

We tried to do this. But just try to get to the town of Susa from Turin on a Sunday, and soon quit. Traffic impossible, no easy through route to find. We don't often give up, but did here. Next trip, start from France. There is a dispute as to which route he did take with his elephants, some say not on current roads at all, and vast archeological treasures are to be found in the ravines elsewhere. We quit and aimed back to Aosta.and

Turin. Shroud, Duomo, Piazza. Romans. Best City by Foot. Follow Along as the Sun Goes Down

2009-10-21T08:11:00.004-04:00

Walk Along As the Day Ends

Impression of Turin: Should be high on anyone's list. Contrasts in people, architecture, a balance of finance (the industrial north of Italy is money-minded, we sense) and culture. The entire way in by our odd route, to the Old Town section, took us through large international sections: markets, Asian, Middle Eastern, African. Follow tracks of any sort, and you get to the center. The main attraction remains the Duomo, with the Shroud, but we want to see more of the other sections next time.

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Read about the scope of Turin, Fiat and all, at ://www.adapk.com/making-cities-out-of-industries/. Scroll down to Turin.

1. Architecture.

The Cathedral Bell Tower or Campanile in Turin is Romanesque in style, 1470. But this site says later - in 1723. See ://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/liguria-piedmont-and-valle-daosta/turin/sights/424659/
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Duomo Belltower, Turin, Italy. Cathedral.

2. Theological matters. Chapel of the Holy Shroud.

The Shroud of Turin, Chapel of the Holy Shroud at Cathedral, Duomo di Torin, Turin Italy (replicated, original in vault)

Historical proofs. Some sites avoid the issue of results of the carbon-dating, simply saying that the controversy rages. See ://www.shroud.com/ Others find flaws in it. See also ://www.shroudstory.com/. The study itself, however, offers its conclusions leaving 5% uncertainty (reasonable), so anybody can choose to live in that 5%.

Vet it all. Here is the radiocarbon dating report, at Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin at ://www.shroud.com/nature.htm/. Their conclusion with 95 percent certainty, is that it dates within this range: 1260-1390, give or take 10.

Processes of faith and actions of institutions in fostering what they want to foster in dogma: different issues from historical proofs. People will choose what they need.

Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Duomo, Turin, Italy (Cathedral)

2. The World Intrudes Itself, into Secular and Religious Discussions

Macho fountain square-off, Turin, Italy.
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Smack down approaching. Attitude counts. Issue here: the gustatory superiority of Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy (Castle Square)

Families out for an evening. Bikes, and, on the sidelines at the cafes, the watching dater hopefuls.

Turin, Castle Square, Italy, mime

Castle Square, Turin, Italy (Piazza Castello)

See this piazza in panorama at ://www.ultimateitaly.com/piazzas-italy/piazza-castello.html/.

4. The Stroll. Have a bite of doner kebab to hold you until the 10PM dinner.

Doner kebab, on the way, Turin, Italy

5. Reconnoiter at the Hotel - prepare for the 10PM dinner forage.
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Evening Cathedral view, Turin, Italy, from hotel

Night stroll, cafe for dinner, Turin, Italy
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Where next?
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6. A yen to redo the office.

Window display, office interior, Turin, Italy

Lady with waif's rose, from table next, Turin, Italy

Children, some dark and raggy, others light and raggy, often sell single roses table to table.

Buy one, have the little vendor take it to the next table where four ladies, between, say 70-90, are carousing - bottles, big portions, lots of fun, waves, a great way for seniors to enjoy life. A Turin friend says many elders live on their own, walk all around, largely because the extended family system still works. Family stops by, keeps an eye, live nearby. However they do it, these folks were enjoying a good time. And all the walking - we know that's good.

She waited for us to finish, then came up with another thank-you.

7. And the Romans.

An archeological-dig park, also a dog park - let them run, all fenced in. See statues, ruins, just outside the Hotel.

Julius Caesar, archeological dig park, Verona, Italy

Turin Doner Kebab - The Global Fast-Food Feast

2009-10-21T07:53:00.003-04:00

Doner kebab. A global viral spiral delight.
World Wide Kabab

Kebap sometimes.

From a distance: the doner kebab. Smell it yet?

Doner kebab, fast food, side street, Torino, Italy (Turin)

The new world's fast food - the doner kebab.

Kebabs can be meat bites threaded on little wooden sticks as we think of shish, kebab, or metal sticks; or this - a vertically roasted, rotating mutton-derived and pressed wonder, which is shaved before your very eyes, and served with a white feta sauce, tomato, lettuce, pita, add the fries, see www://dir.blogflux.com/topic/d%C3%B6ner+kebab.html/. The doner part means the rotation technique, the vertical merry-go-round of solid pressed meat, being shaved away, customer by customer.

Up closer. The doner kebap. Sometimes spelled with the "p".

Quick. In.

Doner kebap, sidewalk ad board, Turin (Torino), Italy

Doner kebab has even reached the eyes and ears and, yea, even the wagging tongues, of the New York Times - here an article on the doner kebab invasion of Milan. See In Italy, Sign of Defiance in a Kebab and a Coke, by Elizabetta Povoledo at ://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/world/europe/24kebab.html/ Does size matter? Where is the biggest one. See ://www.rhinocarhire.com/Car-Hire-Blog/December-2008/Giant-Doner-Kebab-Paphos.aspx/

Doner Kebabs are also in Hanoi: the banh mi doner kabab. Banh mi by itself means only "bread." This Vietnamese variation is made of the big wad of shaved pork from the rotating machinery, pickled vegetables, and chili sauce, and a warm baguette. Turkish kebabs, on the other spit, would be "halal" or lamb or other meats, but no pork. See New York Times, November 8, 2009, travel section page 5. A banh mi iluke-bab boasts sprinkled cilantro and sliced red chiles. The Hanoi German variation on a theme displays a virtuoso pickled red cabbage and onions.

And Quebec. Search.

Common sense: Food safety, storage, shipping, shelflife, street food conditions, manufacture of pressurepushedmanymincedmuttonedmysterymeatsmolded, same problems as anywhere. See ://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2008/05/berlin-dner-king-to-pay-40k-in-rotten.html /. Still, delicious, except for the Doner King's variety.

It's the mesmerizing movement that gets you. Around and around and up and down.

So make your own:

Look at gyro recipes for various sauces.

Compare the doner kebab to Gyros. Greek gyro compared to kebabs. Gyros, as we understand them, are the Greek sandwiches not necessarily from the rotating vertical spit, and can be in chopped chunks. See http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090528041157AAvA6ZC
Shaped kebabs: a first recipe for the shaped minced mutton kebab, ground, in little meatball form on the little sticks, not the rotating Humungous Wonder. Go to Mutton Kebab Cuisine, ://hubpages.com/hub/Mutton-Kebab-Cuisine/.
This second recipe: combines pounded and marinated lamb slices with ground lamb, and uses a "doner kebab broiler" or rotisserie, see http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Sandwiches/Doner.Kebab.html/

Compare the shaped mutton kebab to a Western meatball?

Both use seasonings, but the kebab is minced, not ground as in the shaped kebab. And it takes a lot of flour in the mix; and then the shaped muttonballs are fried, then skewered. If your pot is big enough, perhaps you could skewer then fry. Or do a quick broil after frying and then skewering so the stick gets charred a little. Mutton, the grown sheep, has a stronger flavor than lamb, and is tougher. The marinade in #2 would be important as a tenderizer if mutton is used..

Also enjoyed in Switzerland, see Switzerland Road Ways, Fribourg, Doner Kebabs; and in Slovenia, Croatia, Canada, etc. In Croatia, the process for cevapcici looks similar. Is it?

Milan - The Ouija Board System of Navigation. Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Duomo and Risotto Milanese

2009-10-20T15:16:00.003-04:00

Milan.

First, find your way in.

Second, enjoy the rewards:

Architecture, history, risotto, and a great Piazza

The goal: Central Milan. How to get there?

Santa Maria San presso San Satiro, Milan, Italy; near the Duomo

The first - driving in - is not as easy as it sounds.

1. Maneuvering. The Ouija Board System of Navigation.

There is no way in to Milan. There is no way out of Milan. Remember that, Grasshopper, and you will be wise. "The urban layout of Milan is curious." That from ://www.initalytoday.com/lombardy/milan/index.htm

The rings of autostrasse routes end without a clear through-way to the old town center. They show on a map, but, once there, look like any other street. Look out the window and see nothing but squares and roads,
hubbing off, all ending in other squares, or circles. We asked for a driving directions map on our way out, and were handed 19 turns through and around impossible squares with sillyzillions of streets coming and going.

Why not to drive in Milan. 19 turns at impossible squares.

We shelved the driving directions; that was only page one,. the nineteen. More followed.
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Solutions when maps fail:

The Ouija board. Lay lay fingers gently on the steering wheel, tap this pedal or that, scan horizons, and go. Eventually, you will see something that makes sense.
The Steeple chase. Look for steeples. Look for the sun. Go in those directions - basics of north, south, east, west, aim for the belltowers.

When you are there, remember this is a huge financial hub. Money before tourists. Few low-budget hotels in the center. Just take the big hotel, let them cope with the car (guidebooks warn of break-ins and theft consistently) and belt-tighten elsewhere.

Exit strategy.

When you leave, go ahead and ask for a Driving Directions internet printout, but prepare to skip it.

You will get at least a dozen directions, all useless because they direct you to .2 to this square, then take the third right at rotary and go .3 to that square, etc.

This is where you need faith.

Use the Ouija board and follow the sun. Find any big steeple and aim for it, on the theory that it may lead you to a better life. Finally there will be a ring. Rings upon rings with transverse connectors, so you are not out of trouble yet. Signs are for immediate towns, not ultimate big ones, so learn the route first, then get on one.

2. The Sights

Milan Cathedral, a Rayonnant style of architecture - more French than Italian, highly decorated, see ://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/492572/Rayonnant-style - is overwhelming. Where to begin to look.
Expect disbelief, that this arises from a gritty city so suddenly.

Milan Cathedral, facade, Italy

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Then see detail, those individual features on the figures, the pinnacles and flying buttresses, over and over, and still each of the figures unique in expression, clothing, attitude.

Side view, figures, Duomo, Cathedral, Milan, Italy

Figures everywhere.

Milan Cathedral, figure detail
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The Milan Cathedral, the Duomo, was begun in 1380 and is white marble over a core of brick. The color changes with the time of day, and quality of light. Parts were not completed until the 19th Century. See ://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/milancath/duomo.html/

The Cathedral and Risotto Milanese: Pass the saffron-laced Italian rice, that slow-simmered absorbing stock, warmly coaxed vegetables - a soffrito - ladle by ladle, gentle stir but don't startle it. Inhale.Tender but separate. A little like porridge-making, but rescued in time. Italian rices: arborio, vialone, carnaroli. Large grains, lots of starch. Add butter and parmesan. A tiny bit pasty. Perfecto.

Rice arrived probably in the 15th Century, and from Spain, see Risotto History at ://www.annamariavolpi.com/page52.html/. Arabs would have brought it to Sicily, and to Spain earlier. The Arabs may have grabbed it in India before that.

Meet Valerius, an apprentice working on the Cathedral in 1574, says the tale, teased for using a shortcut and using saffron to up the ante on color for the stained glass. So he got back at his teasers and added saffron to the rice at his Master's wedding - and delicious it was. Saga of the rice. See the Anna Maria Volpi site; and meet the mondine - young girls and women who came from home in the villages and from distant towns to clean and pick the rice, until about the 1960's, for the 40-day season, knee-deep in the water, bent over, hot sun. And they sang. See ://www.vercellink.com/riso/mondine.php/. Search for mondine and find that site, and click on translate. Youtube has the songs. Economy dependent on women. What were they paid?

Milan, Duomo Piazza, Italy. Cathedral Square.

The Duomo Piazza is huge - the Cathedral dominates one end.

Piazza del Duomo, Milan, shopping arcade, galleria

This leads to the opera house, La Scala.
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Piazza del Duomo (Piazza, Milan Cathedral), central statue, Victor Emanuel II (Vittorio Emanuele II) plus pigeons
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Here is Vittorio Emanuele, 1820-1878; unifier of Italy, and its first king, 1861-1878. His statue in the center of the Piazza del Duomo in Milan is the place to meet and greet, and view all. Note the pigeons. Tuppence.
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Go ahead. Feed the birds.

With a hotel just a few blocks away, enjoy an evening. And a view of Old Milan from the window.
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Milan, Italy. Older buildings preserved like oases in the great economic hub.

The ouija board exit strategy took us past fine old palaces. This is symmetrical, with an identical left and right side. Camera lens too small.
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Milan, Italy. Outer rings; palaces.

Lake District: Lazise, Lake Garda; Como, Lake Como; Ispra, Lake Maggiore

2009-10-19T15:49:00.006-04:00

1. Lake District

a. Lazise, on Lake Garda - northwest from Verona

The name means "place on the lake", see ://www.lagodigardamagazine.com/index.asp?menu=59/.

Lake Garda, at Lazise, Italy

Little stairs walk you right down into the water, at spots along the promenade. The easier to get into a boat with, my dear, Pick a step, Set a spell.

Lasize, Lake Garda, Italy. Harbor view

Lasize, and Lake Garda is close to Milan, and an easy drive from Verona. It is full of sunning people. See ://www.gardalake.it/

Lazise, Lake Garda, Italy. Promenade.

Lazise, Lake Garda, Italy. San Nicolo Church, harbor.

Little Saint Nicholas Church is on the water, at the docks. Find boats at the clock tower.

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Lazise, Lake Garda, Italy. City Walls, 12th Century

The old walls with crenellated tops for defense date from the 12th Century, but the earliest castle built on the site dates far earlier, in the 9th Century as defense against the Hungarians. The Scaligeri castle ruin, modified and expanded from the earlier structure, is there.

Lazise, Italy. Saint Nicholas Church, San Nicolo.

San Nicolo is patron saint of fishermen and of schools, and this church was built in the 1200's. It evolved into secular uses, and then was reconsecrated.

Maria Lactans; Nursing Madonna; Lazise, Lake Garda, Itally. Fresco, Church of San Nicolo

We have seen a recurrent theme in Italian early frescoes - the Madonna openly nursing the child. Mary as Mother used to be emphasized in a realistic way. See also this fair use thumbnail of the pregnant Mary, Madonna del Parto, at Monterchi, Tuscany; by Piero della Francesco, from http://www.

:://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_del_Parto">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_del_Parto

Or this one of the pregnant Mary, by Taddeo Gaddi

see ://www.chiesadisanvito.it/page.php?44 /. That site shows another pregnant Mary as well.

Back to San Nicolo in Lazise, the naturalism compared to our later concealments is striking. Here also, the breast being extended to the child. See Saint Anastasia in Verona for another. The theology here was apparently rejected, or diminished out of existence lest woman be elevated, is that so? - the dependence of the child upon the woman for survival. There were centuries of Mary central to worship, as mediator, as mother of God, often expanding on indigenous religious beliefs in a deity as female, in Europe. See discussion at Martin Luther's Stove, Vetting Roots, Centrality of Mary. Fresco Course Correction?

This church was built by a group following Origen, of The School of Alexandria, 2d and 3d Centuries we believe, in early Christianity. See ://www.lagodigardamagazine.com/index.asp?menu=59/

Research, as a start on Origenism, at Origen of Alexandria at ://www.iep.utm.edu/origen-of-alexandria/; and at ://www.copticchurch.net/topics/patrology/schoolofalex2/chapter05.html/ His ideas were later deemed to be heretic, see ://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_origenism.htm/ That's a little extreme. Just because one web is spun for the ease of some does not mean others cannot find sustenance outside it. And Origen precedes the web - is Pre-Web. PW in time, and closer to the Life (and farther from the politics) than the later dogma-developing ones were. Is that so? Is it time to look again at the rejected ones, seeking truths.

Harbor, Lazise, Lake Garda, Italy. Theology. Many the boats to get somewhere.

Of particular interest to theology's political evolution: The church became more and more entrenched as masculine, is that so, and is that why this kind of depiction of Mary as necessary, on whom even the male God depended, was shunted aside?

b. Como, Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy; tour cruise from shore

Lake Como, Italy; residence views

Lake Como from Como point, Italy

Get through the crowded town and market and go out as far as you can. The road narrows and narrows, but you will end up at a private club, venerable residences, and public access to enough to enjoy.
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c. Lake Maggiore

Through Varese, past Lake Varese, to Ispra.

Lake Maggiore, Italy

View from lovely waterside restaurant, local, small town. Ispra. We followed a wedding party here, then the bride and groom took off in their own car, leaving the guests who had been following, in the parking lot - the guests whooped and hopped back in their cars for the chase and we enjoyed our clams and spaghetti.

On to Milan. Ready for the Autostrada. Cross country is impossible. Nearly. Stop stop stop.

Verona, Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare. Theology in Art, Architecture

2009-10-13T14:18:00.003-04:00

What do the stonemasons, the fresco artists, tell us about belief systems that may be different from the dogma of the time. We find the sculptures to show a burden put on the shoulders of the non-elite, and a central role for Mary that is later suppressed. She appears in old fresco and other representations in this way: that the deity depended on her for the conception, the gestation, the birth; and also that the child depended upon her for survival; and later, for support when others forsook. Is that so?

Look at ecclesiastical architecture with a new eye: not to reinforce what you think you know, but to hear and see other perspectives. Any visit to a European country will involve some church-hopping. See more than the guidebook or the guide say.

1. Duomo, Verona.

Here is the Duomo, or Cathedral Santa Maria Matricolare, in Verona. This looks like another church there, San Zeno Maggiore, at first glance, but San Zeno has a top triangle at the roof, then a large rose window below, then the main arch entryway. This Duomo is architecturally more complex. If you take notes off and on, sketch out the differences to help you identify photos later.

Duomo, Cathedral, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, Italy

Identifying the various churches is not a priority for us. We are not extensive note-takers. We enjoy the wandering. Generally, we draw the line at two churches per town. Max. Our best guide at home for identification is the numeral order of the pictures on the memory card. Not infallible.

Structural identification. Here, stripes identify the Duomo. Brickwork identifies St. Anastasia, see previous posts. Then we squint at arch figures. More difficult are the interior views of frescoes, paintings.

Closeup, common man at work, Facade arch detail, Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy
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2. Theology in architecture, sculpture, fresco, carving.

Common people often hold up arches. They are identified by raggy clothes, usually bent over, showing exertion. Saints and Biblicals around arches bear no burdens, apparently. They pronounce. Note the Biblical-type clothing. Robes. Look for more simple folk doing the work.

Common man bearing the burden, Facade arch, San Zeno Maggiore, Verona, Italy

Renderings of Biblical stories elucidate. See Adam run. He has no real clothing, just a diaphanous something. Was that all he got instead of the leaf? Is that why he runs. Or does he realize he never told Eve where the specific tree was that they were to avoid. He stood by and let her reach out and touch, to see what would happen.

Adam on the Run, Fresco, Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, Italy (or is it St. Anastasia?)

Everywhere you look - there are ordinary people exerting themselves to hold the place up. That looks like a woman, there in the center.

Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, arch figural details, exterior, Verona, Italy

3. The dependence upon Mary.

Theology in Fresco: The role of woman. See Mary here, and she is the center of attention, not Jesus. It is she who supports him while he is on the Cross. She is even larger than he is.
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Mary, in old Fresco, Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy. Mary appears first in the act of supporting Christ on the Cross; then as the Central figure for worshipping petitioners
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And it is Mary who is the large focal point of the main part of the fresco below, with petitioners at each side.
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Mary, Mary. What did they do wi' ye? A 180 degree turn has happened, putting her in the shadows? It takes close looks at the oldest painted surfaces to see.
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Instead, where she does appear, she is buried in gilt and gewgaws, crowns and jewels supporting a monarchy, as though Himself ever valued that.

Mary, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy, here removed from role as protector, and an essential to life, into a garbed and regalia-ed Queen

Mary, painting, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy. Morphed into a new message of her role. The unreachable.

The assumption takes over? See here below, then look up and see her above.

4. Renovations of architecture, fresco and theology. Changes to fit the time; or faithful reconstruction of the old.

If we were of this particular faith subgroup, we would keep before us the fresco of Mary as central to the things that matter, not the dogmas. And we would note the eternal truth, that even in our religions common people bear the burdens imposed on them while the higher ups contemplate and pronounce. Is that so? Not really, some higher ups were martyred. But if that was for an authoritarian view and dogma, perhaps it should have been rethought in terms of original teaching of the Founder. is that so? Sure.

Duomo, Verona. Major renovations, much concealed still

Aim your camera around the curtain to see what is going on. We prefer old frescoes to newer paintings, so were interested here.

Duomo, Verona. Is the serpent here in Eden shown as a female? Isn't the serpent a "he"? Text tampering?

Excavations, Duomo, Verona, Italy

Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, layers of earlier foundations

Mary, about to nurse? Duomo, Verona, Italy

We have seen several old frescoes of Mary nursing in public, people watching, breast bared. Here, this old sculpture (Romanesque) looks like another, with her apparently extending it to the child. When did nursing in public become anathema? It was essential to The Survival of the founder, is that so, and is that not the message - the role of the female not only for the gestation, but also its ongoing life. Have patience with us outsiders, please, but this issue interests us. Look at the demotions after. The vengeance of the Watchers.
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Duomo, Cathedral, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona. Whimsy in figures.

This is why we like the old reliefs, the old frescoes and sculptures; rather than the gaudy later oils and decorations. Here are some folk, just hanging out. Or are they guarding the Tree, with their sceptres, but no wings, there in the center, so Adam (that is a guy) relaxing over there, cannot get back in. Room for interpretation in everything.

Verona, Italy. Childish Adults on Board. Marbles, Loss or Enjoyment Of

2009-10-12T14:46:00.001-04:00

Marble. Ancient to Modern. An Exhaustible Resource.

Examine It Minutely

for a change

Even marble flooring can be tweaked for entertainment's sake.

Duomo, marble flooring detail, Verona, Italy

Roar.

Antique marble, as in Greek statues, is "unknown" for use today, and carrera marble is used instead. The oldest quarries were exhausted. Marble varies, of course, with location. Countries are known for their marble. See the varieties of marble, with white being far softer than the black. The old black marble and white marble quarries are indeed gone. When scuffing along flooring, go from black to black? This site says that alabaster and granite are also marbles, see Marble Workers' Manual at ://quarriesandbeyond.org/articles_and_books/marble_workers_manual/mwh-p1_sect2.html/

Look at the varieties and colors of modern marble at ://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/stones/Marbles.htm/ Buy some. Find the chisel. Chiz.

Verona - Saint Anastasia and Simple Folk; The Theology of Art.

2009-10-11T15:17:00.004-04:00

The Theology of Art

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Here, we look at St. Anastasia, church in Verona, Italy; and what its art says about its theology. See in the beleaguered supporters of its columns the place of the poor in Christian theology by the time of the Renaissance; and in frescoes, the persistence of the belief in Mary the Mother as essential not only to the birth of Christ, but also to his very survival: his dependence on her, as depicted in art where she nurses the baby openly, extending the breast. That did not last.

Saint Anastasia Herself.

Which? There were several Sant' Anastasia's in the third century - one of Rome, one of Simium (where?) and one, known as The Patrician, see ://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/anastasia.html/ If this in Verona is the Roman one, as is likely given the geographic proximity, she was burned at the stake for refusing to marry. See the story, The Golden Legend, at the Iconography site. Look it up at Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, at ://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/. As to Simium, there is a reference in the history of the Apostles' Creed at ://www.archive.org/stream/apostlescreedexa00whee/apostlescreedexa00whee_djvu.txt/ but no map.

To us, as outsiders, the Roman Anastasia's death apparently had nothing to do with her Christian faith, as far as we can tell. She just said no to marrying the jerk, and wanted her wealth to go to the poor, not to the fellow who wanted her hand and the rest. What other theology is expressed by her sainthood? Where does Christ say not to marry. Religious coral. What do we say. Look out, girls, the Romans are coming? The fork in the road.

St. Anastasia, Santa Anastasia, 1480, Verona, Italy

2. The place of the poor in Renaissance Christian theology. Is this so?

Look closer at the theology of architecture and sculpture. Does this fellow bearing burdens really want to be here.
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Unwilling beast of burden? St. Anastasia, Verona, Italy

This is one Hunchback, attributed to Gabriele Caliari, the father of Renaissance artist, Paolo Veronese. See Veronese at ://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/veronese_paolo.html

Second Hunchback, St. Anastasia, Verona, Italy

The second Hunchback bearing burdens: he is also at the base of a column at the entrance, looks equally put upon.

We did not notice this was a hunchback - or the other one, either.

Are they? Or is that some description that just gets passed on? We saw only the economically deprived. Have to go back. To us, they looked simply as the poor. Being dumped upon, again.
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Who bears the burden of our institutions. Who profits. What message?

Here is the altar and apse areas. No hunchbacks.

Interior, altar, Sant' Anastasia, Verona, Italy

3. The Theology of Interdependence: Mary as Essential not only to the Birth, but to the Survival

Here is Mary, nursing the baby, openly, extending the bare breast to the child as others look on.

Fresco, Sant' Anastasia, Verona, Italy. The Theology of Public Nursing: Mary nursing openly, in front of others, necessary to survival of the child; why is that female essential in Christian religion later suppressed by male dogma? Need we ask.

How many altar paintings, whatever, show this after the Renaissance? Scarce, if any. Then, look at the expressions on the faces of the men. Do they look jealous? Can they tolerate the idea that the Mother has this necessary connection, in order for the child to survive. And that their theories may well be disposable, but not this relationship.See discussion in connection with anther fresco of Mary nursing, at Lazise, at Vetting Roots, Centrality of Mary. Fresco Course Correction?.

Fresco, Verona, Italy. Saint Anastasia. Discomfited clerical onlookers, as Mary openly nurses. Are they, perhaps, already conjuring contrary dogma, how males could be made central to Christianity instead; Renaissance.

This theme, of Mary openly nursing the child, also appears in the ancient church of St. Anthony at Lake Garda, Italy, post pending. Then, surprisesurprise, no more Mary openly nursing.

Theological correctness: Nursing in public is clearly theologically correct, as well as nutritionally advised. Lactators, carry on. Treatment of the poor. Making the poor bear the burdens of the rich church architecture is not theologically correct. Serve the people. Is that so?

Verona: Dante,; Scaligeri Family, and The Dogs of Vanity

2009-10-09T14:59:00.002-04:00

Dante in Verona:

A temporary resident of Verona; a permanent memorial. Dante Alighieri, the poet we know simply as Dante, lived in Verona for five years, from 1312 to 1318, a supporter of the Holy Roman Emperor party, the Guelphs; against the Pope's party, the Ghibellines.

Dante Alighieri, Monument, Memorial statue, Verona, Italy. Piazza dei Signori

The Guelphs later divided into the White Guelphs (Dante's group) and the Black Guelphs, no racial reference. As a White Guelph, and here history is beyond me, he had to leave Florence and ended up in Verona. And elsewhere in Italy, traveling about. Writing. Falling in love. Describing hell. Is that so? Not in that order. See ://www.online-literature.com/dante/ Verona was not unique in housing him.

In his "Purgatory", Dante refers to Montecchio's and Capelletti, and their sadness; some think the story might, just might, have taken place at that time, perhaps. See Dante's Verona at ://www.veronissima.com/sito_inglese/html/topic_dante.html, referencing Shakespeare's later story we know as Romeo and Juliet. Montagues and Capulets.
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Tombs of the Scaligeri in Verona.

The Scaligeri family ruled Verona in the 1300's-1400's. The name, Cangrande, for one of them, means "Big Dog" and there are several on the tomb.

Scaglieri tomb, Cangrande perhaps, Verona, Italy

One story behind the obsession with canine names in the Scaglieri family is this: That the Polos returned from the Far East talking of the might of the Khan, and the Khan was translated into a spelling like Cane, which resembled Dog. The Scaglieris would not be outdone by some dog from the east, so the tradition of outdoing began. Was that in Rick Steves' guidebook? Will check. The memorial to the Scalieri Family is, as any other name in another language or earlier time, spelled variously: also spelled Della Scala, or Scaligeri.

Frommer's guide says that many others in the family took on dog names, including one called the Mastiff, see ://www.frommers.com/destinations/verona/A33548.html/. We are looking for other accounts of the original idea, going back earlier, that the family's obsession with things dog stemmed from a misinterpretation - not "dogs" at all. The NYT does not mention it. See ://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/italy/verona/33548/arche-scaligeri-scaligeri-tombstorre-dei-lamberti/attraction-detail.html/

Scaglieri Family Tomb, Cangrande, Big Dog, Verona, Italy
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See the history of the family and Verona at this google book, http://books.google.com/books?id=XixojYgnRtsC&pg=RA1-PA388&lpg=RA1-PA388&dq=canines+Verona+Italy&source=bl&ots=dqp-W_ClYr&sig=6I2SIQ5b3MdyOtP8FvaJI_a8MnU&hl=en&ei=IoTPSqinHYjllAfIuZmpCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false/. This is from Italy, page 389.

Verona - Market, Arena, Rome Was Here. And Venice. And the Inquisition.

2009-10-09T01:18:00.002-04:00

Verona's Old City is largely pedestrianized, but it is also a large, active community. This is not a big open-air museum, despite all the fine buildings. People live and work here.

Clocktower, street view, Old City, Verona, Italy

Market, Old Town, Verona, Italy

Verona's Arena looks like Rome's Colisseum, and was built by the Romans in the First Century. Gladiators, spectacles, all here. See ://italy-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/touring_roman_verona/

Roman Arena, passageway (flash adjusted), Verona, Italy

Roman Arena, close-up, brickwork, interior vaulted arch passage, Verona, Italy

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These days, come in summer for the Opera.

After the Romans came a variety of city-state rulers and kings. In 1184, Pope Innocent III, at a gathering called the Council of Verona, instituted the Inquisition here. See timeline at ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&tbs=tl%3A1&q=timeline+Verona&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=/ Support the Roman Catholic interpretations of Christianity or die. The next 80 popes continued it. Churches can represent ill-gotten gains.

Then came the big one, Venice.

Lion of Venice, Piazza della Erbe, Verona, Italy

The Lion of Venice: In the 9th Century, some dastardly folk from Venice stole the remains of St. Mark that had been entombed in Alexandria, Egypt. The graverobbers concealed the corpse in pork to fend off the Muslims; then suspended it from the mainmast and braved a sea crossing where Saint Mark himself instructed them to strike the sails and thus saved them from hitting rocks. Once at Venice, the remains were given to the Doge in Venice, who adopted Saint Mark as the city's patron saint. Accordingly, St. Mark's traditional logo, a winged lion, became symbol of they city. See ://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/winged_lion_of_st_mark.htm/

Verona was conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1405. See timeline at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&tbs=tl%3A1&q=timeline+Verona&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=/.

Verona - Bones About It

2009-09-29T18:23:00.007-04:00

Your young or English major children might be surprised at the contrasting tones at Juliet's supposed house: the sometimes rowdy groping at the Juliet statue in the courtyard, and then the shift inside to find the dancing dead.
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Here is the courtyard at Juliet's concocted house, and this courtyard (after the ticket booth) ushers you into the tour through imagined rooms. We understand that this particular house has no connection to anything Shakespearean, except for its look. Fine. It looks as we might imagine from the outside. And there is a nice art gallery filling much of it up as you go. Enjoy. There is also an imagined Romeo house, a serenade away, that we did not enter.

Juliet's house and balcony (ersatz), Verona, Italy

Juliet Herself, with Daniel, the restrained Admirer, Verona, Italy

Then, inside, bones offering a stark view of a reality, the transience of joy as a general principle? Is that it? Are all the heights heightened by their loss. Do they live on because they die in full flower, as an unsustainable ideal, instead of life taking over. Read about it at ://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-romeo-and-juliet.htm/ But soft, draw closer, ah, there .... See a snippet at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UfUd03qOxE/

The
Family Tour. Too late! Verona, Italy, Romeo and Juliet, after.

It happened in Verona, Italy.

Is that part of life? What say. Romeo, where art thou.

Dolomites, and Cortina, Italian Alps

2009-09-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

Dolomites, Italian Alps

During World War I, there was horrendous fighting in these Alps. From 1915 to 1917, Italians and Austrians suffered two winters, dug in, tunneling, in trenches, and with mines. There were 6400 Italians killed, 1800 Austrians, for example, at one battle alone. See Dolomites, History, at ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/sd/index.html/. That was at Col de Lana, and col means "pass". We did not know of the tunnel tangle at Lagazuoi, the Ice City, but if we get back, that will be on the list. See it at ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/laga5torri/storia/fronteLaga.html

Cortina, Dolomites, Italian Alps

The town and region of Cortina is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, see http://italy-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/italian_dolomites_alpine_driving_tour/, famous for its sports, partying and also its long strategic history, see ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/csto/mfbelli/index.html/ In 1956, Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the Olympics. Read the index of topics at that site: prehistoric times, Romans, Middle Ages with the Lombards, Franks and then the Ottomans, nobles and Crusades, Venice influence, short-lived small republic (Maximilian let that go on a while), jump ahead to Fascism and World Wars, and boundary shifts.

Travel is restricted. Plan for it.

We arrived at Cortina from the north, from Lienz, Austria; then tried to get to Merano from Cortina.

Merano used to be part of Austria as Meran, and a dear friend's grandfather was from the old town. We were caught in the wrong place, wrong time. Too far to go to head back to the long valley route, and the mountain passes are impassible unless you start early in the day, plan to creep about, check the map every turn (signs are for passes and choices in passes, not the ultimate town heading for), and a full tank. Plan your time in the Dolomites so you see the topography, not just the distances. Ranges go north-south, and passes letting you go east-west are one hazardous switchback after another, on a 1 1/2 lane road, if that, with some lay-bys, otherwise you back up. So plan accordingly.

See that Italian Dolomites Alpine Driving Tour site for how to get to Cortina, and other places, from Verona. Plan to go from the south.

As you go, watch for those WWI memorials.

Phrygian Caps, Ancient Roman Empire and Mithraism

2008-05-15T18:52:00.007-04:00

Ancient clothing, ancient beliefs. They are with us today. Here is a fair use and rescaled portion of a mosaic in Ostia Antica, the whole can be seen at www.ostia-antica.org/regio5/9/9-1_11.

For background where this was uncovered, see our views of Ostia Antica at Italy Road Ways, Ostia Antica; and at Italy Road Ways, Ostia, Death by Silt. See the cap, the forward-pulled peak.

Our focus here is on this headwear - known by its shape as the Phrygian Cap.

Now, see this same cap shape on a slave shown on the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, at Italy Road Ways, Rome, Colosseum, Arch of Septimius Severus.

It also was worn by worshippers of Mithra, Mithraism as a pagan Roman religion that competed in the early times with emerging Christianity, and was the dominant religion where Paul grew up. See its influence at ://sparklemjk.com/Yule.html. See also Bogomilia, Mithraism.

This cap has significance in any era where freedom was valued, and fought for - see Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Cap; and sites listed there.

Origins are anchors. Ties to the past that light up the present. Wear your Phrygian Cap with pride. See its current significance in modern symbolism at Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Caps.

The United States Army sports it with pride. This is a fair use portion of the official seal. See Joy of Equivocating site for more. Then look up the American Revolution, and the French Revolution. A search for Phrygian caps there as well. And connections to Rome - see ://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/xf-cap.html

Ostia Antica - Death by Silt. A Quiet Death

2007-12-19T18:15:00.000-05:00

Compare Ostia Antica to Pompeii - the one expiring over time as water levels altered and port capabilities diminished; the other with the drama of violence, painful death, sudden cataclysm.

Nonetheless, go to Ostia, near Rome, before your flight takes off. We stopped there on the way to the airport, in our rental car, but this article in New York Times 9/17/06 says at page 12 that you can take a boat there from Rome. Perfect. We squirrel away things like this for a return trip, and that is the great advantage of going first, researching later. Find what you want on a second run.

Less touristy, a sense of the place, the streets, the people. "Ostia" means mouth - and the city does seem to be swallowed - it ultimately melts away into the river. See the baths, amphitheater, storehouses, a synagogue, and a temple. Metropolis. Finally - as late as the 9th century, says the article, Ostia became a mere quarry area. Its marble went to Pisa, and Florence, anywhere needed. Organ transplants.

The communal nature of living in those days - we saw it also at the Roman villa in Sicily - see Sicily Road Ways , look for the Villa del Casale post. Hoppers were all in a square at the house, the holes looking at each other, with kindly running water beneath, all genders do your business and move on, group togetherness. Sometime look up the equivalent of TP, a stick with handy bulbous thing. Note also, as in Rome, the two-story apartment buildings. The ancients did ok.

Venice and the Plague

2007-09-19T11:40:00.000-04:00

An approach to this recurrent deadly epidemic was to quarantine the sick on an island, a few miles from the Piazza San Marco. See news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070829-venice-plague. The eras of greatest impact here seems to be the 15th and 16th centuries. The mass graves: so far, som 1500 bodies have been found, with many other burial grounds still undisturbed.

Mass graves: and what to do with the bones. Some places made room for more by removing and stacking the prior dead. See Czech Republic Road Ways, Kutna Hora post, with references also to the monastery at Sedlec where the bones were made into chandeliers and sconces and decorations at the monastery in the 19th Century; or Poland Road Ways, Kudowa Droj post. Ossuaries, Charnel Houses, what to do when the dead become too many. In World Wars I and II, there were so many unidentifiable remains that the ossuaries are huge. See Douaumont, for example, at Verdun, France where 130,000 French and Germans rest, go to France Road Ways;

Venice - The Rialto Bridge; Marco Polo

2007-01-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Gondolas. Very expensive, and water buses are a good alternative. The Rialto Bridge. First stop was for pizza so we could walk around with it like everybody else.

Best spot for supper: little St. Margaret's Square. We located a landmark near our hotel so we could get directions back more easily when we got lost, and just wandered into lovely St. Margarets. A local resident community, not as touristy.

Marco Polo: We had found Marco Polo's birthplace (so the sign said) on Korcula island, off the Dalmatian Coast, Croatia, see Croatia Road Ways . For stories of his life as a Venetian, see www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.

A read-aloud. I used to teach 4th grade. At one school, it was customary to read aloud for 15 minutes a day, before lunch, and from this venerable book: Louise Andrews Kent's story, "He Went With Marco Polo: A Story Of Venice And Cathay". (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1936). A good read for kids and grownups.

For a big enterprising list of Venice novels, see www.efn.org/%7Eacd/venicenovel. For any web references, go to the home page and navigate, using the rest of the address only as needed.

Florence - train Venice to Naples

2007-01-05T12:59:00.000-05:00

Florence. So much of Italy seems like a required checklist - too many pictures out there already. Culture, hist. Renaissance, and history before and after. Read an original account of life in the 13th century here: www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/villani.

Here is the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, with its shops. See www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Ponte_Vecchio; and, for photos and history see www.bluffton.edu/%7Esullivanm/pontevecchio/ponte. Update - New York Times 6/3/07, that fine series of 36 hours somewhere. This time, Florence. Going again, I would take that.

We arrived by train from Venice via Bologna. Our hotel was near the Duomo, 1436. Watch the heat. It was so hot when we were there that we constantly ducked in and out of places to get cool. Crowds and more hot. We did see the rest of Florence, but finally gave up trying to get into the Duomo itself - the wait was 1 1/2 hours each time we went by. Limited people were allowed in at a time. You can climb up to the top of the Duomo for the view, but it was too hot even to do that.

Here is the Duomo. There is a huge dome. For its history, see gallery.euroweb.hu/database/churches/duomo; and www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/buq.

Rome - Here, We Could Have Used a Car. Colosseum, Septimius Severus, Jesus Pantera, Phrygian Caps

2007-01-03T12:05:00.002-05:00

Rome and glory,
Rome and glory.
Go together,
But some is gory.

Here is a pay-per-photo gladiator at the Colosseum, see www.romebuddy.com/colosseum/colosseumpictures.. And conquered Gauls and other slaves at the Arch of Septimius Severus, see sights.seindal.dk/sight/161_Arch_of_Septimius_Severus. Note the caps on the slaves - the Phrygian caps. They were forbidden to use their own headwear while enslaved. They could redon their caps upon freedom. See Hello, Fodder, Phrygian Caps. See also Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Cap to Supplant Lapel Pin.

We were distance-walkers here, without a car. It is not hard to find your way somewhere on the bus, or subway. People are helpful. The historic sites are so well known, and well marked. We went to the Catacombs by bus, the Vatican by subway, and did Rome central by foot.

Became interested in a particular Roman archer after we got back. If theories interest you, do a web search for "Jesus Pantera," or read "The Jesus Dynasty," by James Tabor, Simon & Schuster 2006, if you have any interest in expanding your horizons in religious roots. Paternity is always a topic, rich or poor, and this does delve. Let information or possibilities in, then weigh and decide. No point in blocking an idea out before you think about it. That's what brains are for.

Back to gladiators: There is information on gladiators at Gladiators, and many other places on the internet. Try this site: ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/gladiators. Also movies. If we were to wire the world, and provide a basic computer to each household, and have the schools teach basic repair, kids and adults could go a long way in teaching themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Gates?

There is the Arch of Septimius Severus, 200AD or so. On the arch are captured tribesmen - Gauls - in chains - from somewhere in France? Could be elsewhere, because the Gauls were over a large area.

Gauls appear to be either the same as or connected to the Celts? See more about Gauls and Celts at www.leyline.org/cra/1999beltaine/romans_and_gauls.

Some of the captured were brought back to Rome as slaves, others became gladiators, as in the film, The Gladiator. For accounts of the slavery, see www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/slavery-romrep1. Slavery: even Scots on the Isle of Skye were enslaved and sent to the Virgin Islands - said our guide at Dunvegan Castle, Scotland Road Ways.
He said that is why there are so many Scottish surnames there. Check it out? Slavery in America: different in denying personhood? Another topic.

Amalfi Coast and the Rule of Ears

2007-01-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

The Amalfi Peninsula - best by car.
Rule of ears.
Two lanes, but many kinds of vehicles,
All at different speeds,
All changing lanes and passing each other.
Survival tactic:
Focus on whoever
Is in front of your ears.
Let anyone behind take car of themselves.
Once they arrive at your ear-level,
Peripheral vision,
Then pay close attention, not necessarily before
Because then you get too close to the one in front.
Works for Naples, motorcycles, all.
Drivers are nimble.
Just be quick.

Pompeii - buried in ash

2006-12-31T12:02:00.002-05:00

The ancient world.

Techniques for art, living spaces, and the laundry

Pompeii. This is a city that death caught in mid life. See http://www.pompeiana.org/.

Pompeii, fresco, face

Frescoes remain visible, some in strikingly good condition. The face remains vivid, although the rest of this fresco has faded. The technique is a painting on wet plaster, see http:// www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6981/fresco

The ruins show ordinary lives, rooms, doorways, gardens, doorways opening into more doorways, views of interior gardens.
.
Pompeii, ruin of a house, many rooms
.
Where there are shops, there are also refreshment places. liquid and snacks offered to the shoppers, social
places to go.

Laundrymen in Roman times had their own patroness: the Goddess Minerva, symbolically shown as the owl. Pompeii also had its commercial laundry, where soiled clothing was arranged over a wicker cone, and a smudge pot of burning sulphur set beneath.

The laundry process. Smelly. See the magazine, Archeology Odyssey, March-April 2005 (this by way of update), see homesite at http://www.bib-arch.org/archaeology-odyssey.asp. At page 56, learn that urinals outside the establishment collect donations from pissers-by. That aromatic liquid is combined with potash from wood ashes, potassium carbonate; and hot water. Pour into tub, add clothing, and pay (slaves?) laundry workers to tromple about like on grapes, then comes the rinse, wring and dry in the sun.

Fuller's earth, or a kind of absorbent clay, like kitty litter? degreases the fragile items.

Then comes the carding, brushing up nap and then shearing it smooth again (razors on sweaters?). Pressing was accomplished by a vise, like your husband's trouser press possibly.

This is not an OSHA approved process. The fumes and toxicity produced infections, breathing ailments. Toga washing. Not for the faint-hearted.

How big is a toga? Very big. Perhaps 20 feet long, 10 feet wide. Patricians donned pure white togas, but lower beings wore lower-maintenance off-white. See "Going Clean", Togas Washed and Pressed, Archeology Odyssey.

We enjoy ruins, learning what the structures were. The common sense of old cultures - here are stepping stones to get across the street without mussing sandals in the muck, with space for wagon or chariot wheels in between. We are more alike than un-alike. Markets, art, recreation.

Herculaneum - buried in mud

2006-12-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

Herculaneum. Not as publicized as Pompeii, but just as devastated. Here, mud flowed instead of ash covered.

See www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-011.

The town was buried in the same cataclysm as buried Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius did the damage. See volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius. The eruption was at the same time as affected Pompeii.

The town of Herculaneum is near Naples, and is so far below street level that there are walkways, rather than walk-on streets for visitors. There is an elevated series of pathways, looking down. This gives a broad sense of the large size of the city, and an overview.

In Pompeii, you are walking right in it.

Herculaneum is still being excavated, as is Pompeii.

Train trips

2006-12-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

1. Our use of trains. One long run, Venice to Naples, getting off at Bologna, Florence, Rome, and to Naples. At Naples we rented a car.

2. Opting out of the package deal. The travel packages of so many days by train, and so many by car, did not fit us. We bought our train tickets as we needed them, and rented the car separately.

3. Weigh carefully whether to take the high speed train, or a local. Calculate the time vs. the enjoyment of slower scenes, more casual connections with people. We got some of our best tips from people on the local. And saw far more. Calculate what time you have. If you miss your high speed, ask the difference in travel time before hopping impulsively on that local over there.

4. Hotels nearby. If you travel by train and want at least your first night reservation in hand (we sometimes do the first night and the last night in advance), remember that you will be walking and carrying your bags. Look up the maps for hotels on the internet and get a room close to the station.

5. If you are stuck (as in London) for a place to stay that doesn't cost the roof, go immediately to the main train station. Victoria Station in London, for example. There are always rooming houses and small hotels at train and bus stations. We found them to be clean and safe.

6. Downside of all trains. They leave you off and then you have to walk or take a cab to see anything. Most stations are in the center or near the center of town, but that area might be rundown by now, and there are always things farther afield that you will miss. Long hoof in Bologna, for example, with our backpacks (chose not to locker them), and the heat was extreme. Took much of the fun out just getting there and then back in time.

Links, posts, archives

2006-12-20T09:56:00.001-05:00

Third-party website references are in longhand, not a quick link format. We are concerned that immediate links are not predictably safe - see, for example, www.bitlaw.com. Too hard to tell who qualifies to use the fast lane. Regrets. Our mixed format here is geared for speed, immediate education if someone wants it, and without losing the place on the trip blog. There must be a better way to protect significant rights without closing the book.

Posts: reflect arrival to departure, not the date when the post may have first been published. This makes sense to us for a travel site. So do read the archives - they complete the trip.

Technorati Profile

The Naples-Palermo Ferry; ferry topics

2006-12-18T12:56:00.000-05:00

Overnight (cabin and beds) trip.
Verify your advance reservation.

We had made internet reservations,
And had the confirmation sheet.
Not enough.

The ticket place at the dock
Had no record of us when we arrived.
Ticket agent was mildly optimistic,
So we waited about and then got on line.

Return: We had no idea of when.
So, no return trip ticket in advance.
When we were ready, tried for the Messina return ferry,
No room, so enjoy the Sicily resort coast drive
Back to Palermo and on board there.
Always works out.

Sicily - side trip

2006-12-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

Rent car in Naples, drive around Amalfi Coast, see Pompeii and Herculaneum, then on overnight ferry to Palermo Sicily - see Sicily Road Ways. Then back to ferry dock at Naples, and drive north.

Just fit.

Anzio - World War II

2006-12-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

Anzio, the beachhead. See www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/anzio/72-19; and anzio.netfirms.com/. The netfirms site offers a fine World War II overview. Click on the link for pictures. Debates continue about the strategies used by both sides, mistakes made, hindsight, heroism anyway.

The town is between Naples, where the ferry docked coming back from Sicily, and Ostia Antica, where we stayed before flying out of Rome. We took the long, meandering coastal route north - no motorways. There are fine memorials there. The battle was in 1944. We do try to remember.

One site says in the header that Anzio was a great military blunder. That issue is not new. See www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/anzio.aspx.

Ostia Antica - Lydia and the Mint. "The Better Pompeii"

2006-12-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

Ostia Antica. The old port to Rome, now found inland. This lovely place is often overlooked because Rome's airport is so close. See www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm. Make the time for it. Spend the night near here. Quiet. Contemplative.

This town 2000 years ago was on the coast, and was Rome's main port for some 600 years.

This site calls it, "The Better Pompeii." See www.initaly.com/regions/latium/ostia.

Ostia was hit by disease (malaria) and other towns became more prominent as Ostia became silted in. Waterways changed. The port finally silted over, and also silted over much of the town, preserving a great deal.

Lydia! We wandered in and out and saw "Lydia's House" on the little sign, climbed in and over the rocks, into a courtyard, to a room on the left - and suddenly there was the aroma of mint and more mint - and no mint to be found anywhere. Thank you, Lydia, for your home and your hospitality. I can smell it yet. A delight mid-afternoon. And where from?

Romans in cities - there were apartments, several stories high, around a central courtyard - brick-like, with shops on the bottom. The guidebook picture recreating the building of flats looks quite modern.

Ostia is also known for Mithraism - a center for one of the major Roman Empire religions that flourished and became (as to cultural practices and many concepts) incorporated into the later Christian faiths. Read about Mithra - and the similarities and liturgical adoptions - at Bogomilia, A Site for the Unsung: Mithraism.

Trieste - Italy, but easier done from Croatia

2006-11-02T00:28:00.000-05:00

We went here, but part of our trip to the Western Balkans, Croatia and Slovenia. It is only a few hours from Venice, but not a natural side trip. Trieste is to the east, and the rest of tourist-Italy is to the south and west.

See Trieste Road Ways. Trieste represents Venetian domination of the Adriatic, however, and giving the territory to Italy after WWII (instead of keeping it with Tito and Yugoslavia) still rankles some. The area went between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia in disputes for centuries. After WWII, the Potsdam treaties said Trieste was to be self-governing, but it later went to Italy, see www.ts.camcom.it/english/porto. Scroll down about 9 paragraphs for the reaction to the allocation. For Potsdam, see Germany Road Ways.

Trieste was an area of alleged war crimes, and for overview on that topic see www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_warcrimes. Get there if you can. It is beautiful, but its history is turmoil. For the history of the Trieste events of WWII, see cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=587. Go to the home page, then navigate as needed.

Trieste is a kind of Venice with the canals from the bay area, but it is cross-hatched with them. They do not substitute for roadways. See the aerial view at www.ts.camcom.it/english/porto..

Excellent photo gallery here - someone else's

2006-11-01T15:51:00.000-05:00

We have our own photos on the posts, but often find good ones elsewhere.

See, for example, www.pbase.com/bauer/italy. These sites (and these blogs) are intended as a resource and education and entertainment for people who are unable to travel, as well as a stimulus for those who can, to do it.

More blogs about Italy Road Ways.

Itinerary After The Fact

2006-05-31T15:53:00.000-04:00

Five days stay and by train, Venice to Naples;

Two days car Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Amalfi Coast;

Four days Naples ferry to Sicily: Palermo; Monreale, Erice, Trapani, Marsala, Selinunte, Agrigento, Gela, Casale (Villa Romana), Enna, Mount Etna, Randazzo, Capo D'Orlando, Cefalu, Termini, Solunte and Palermo.

Three days Ferry to Naples again, Anzio, Ostia Antica, and Rome.

See also www.europeroadways.com.